They have appeared in ten Asian Cup tournaments and won it twice in 2019 and 2023, beating Japan, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea in the process during 2019, conceding just one goal.

The Qataris lost out to Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals, but achieved a 3rd place standing after emerging the victors of a penalty shoot-out against the United Arab Emirates.

Their showing in the main tournament was unimpressive, making an early exit from the group stages with two defeats, one draw and one win.

[20] Qatar narrowly lost to Iraq in the finals of the 1984 Gulf Cup, nonetheless they were named runners-up, their most impressive accolade until 1992.

They were denied a spot in the World Cup after finishing below the United Arab Emirates and South Korea in the final round of the qualifiers.

[24] Two years later, they won the competition on home soil for the first time under the leadership of Sebastião Lapola, despite a 1–0 loss against Saudi Arabia in their final game.

[25] Their star player at the time, Mubarak Mustafa, won both the top scorer and man of the tournament awards.

[28] They reached the final qualifying round again in 2001 but were defeated by Bora Milutinovic's China team, who topped the section to progress to their first FIFA World Cup.

Subsequently, the Qatar Football Association ended their cooperation with him in September 2008, as the QFA claimed he needed too long to recover from surgery.

They succumbed to a late 2–3 defeat to eventual champions Japan after a goal was scored by Masahiko Inoha in the 89th minute.

They advanced from the group stages after three draws, going on to defeat Oman 3–1 in the semi-final, and were victorious in the final against Saudi Arabia, who was playing in front of a home crowd, by a margin of 2–1.

Qatar finished bottom of their group, ensuring they would play their first World Cup match on home soil in 2022, the first team to do so since Italy in 1934.

Qatar opened the tournament with a 4–0 win against Yemen, but that was followed by a 1–2 loss to Iraq and an unconvincing 1–1 draw to Bahrain.

This was followed by a 6–0 thrashing of North Korea and a 2–0 win against three-time champions Saudi Arabia, which sealed the team getting first place in the group.

Their first game was against Paraguay where they came back from a 2–0 deficit to tie it 2–2 but marked for the first time Qatar suffered more than one goal in any major competition since winning the Asian Cup in UAE.

[40] Despite the very successful performance of Qatar in various major tournaments, the 2022 FIFA World Cup held at home proved to be a nightmare for the Qataris.

The Maroons defeated Lebanon 3–0 to start off their campaign, and they entered the round of 16 as group winners following 2 other successes, all without conceding a goal.

From 2004 until 2021, Qatar suffered a winless streak over Bahrain with six defeats and ten draws before finally registering a win in the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup.

In the early 1970s, shortly after the formation of the national team, the QFA revealed that it had naturalized its first players in a February 1976 telegram sent to FIFA: Ezzuldin Osman of Sudan, Hassan Mukhtar of Egypt and Ryad Murad of Lebanon.

This practice of naturalizing Arabic-speaking foreigners to compete for the national team continued throughout the 20th century, albeit at a relatively slow rate.

[63] The International Labour Organization (ILO) and Qatar announced the removal of the Kafala on 12 December 2016; the law came into effect in 2018.

[64] The reform took place between UN's International labor organization and the state of Qatar and was proven to be the part of many said assurances that nation has claimed for the 2022 World Cup.

Though claimed by independent bodies of Qatar foundering to achieve the same, both sides had agreed to revise previous acts that had been taken.

[68] The following year, naturalized players formed the backbone of the team and were sufficiently integral that head coach Jorge Fossati threatened to resign if they were removed.

[69][70] The reliance on naturalised players has subsequently reduced, with only two members of the squad that beat Switzerland in a 2018 friendly being born outside Qatar.

[71] However, at the 2019 Asian Cup, amidst diplomatic tensions between the two countries, the United Arab Emirates Football Association lodged a formal complaint against Qatar, alleging that Almoez Ali and Bassam Al-Rawi were not eligible to play for them.

[75] Champions    Runners-up    Third place Qatar was the second team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa América, and were invited for the first time in 2019.

Qatar was the second team from Asia to participate in the CONCACAF Gold Cup after South Korea, and were invited for the first time in 2021.